


Step It Up

by Smapdi



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 17:30:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4488375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smapdi/pseuds/Smapdi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fake dating trope, fluffy, set sometime in S2 after Weiner Night, pre-Cliff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Step It Up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [grelca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/grelca/gifts).



> For Grace, for no reason. Thanks to likerealpeopledo for the beta and the title.

"Just do this one thing and I won't ask you any more favors. I promise. For reals this time!"

Danny scrubbed a hand across his face, shoulders slumped, as the whirligig of bright color (today's was three shades of teal, a color name he refused to admit he knew no matter how many times Mindy insisted it was not just 'plain old blue') did her standard, never fails pleading in front of him. 

"Nope, and you say that every time. Find some other sucker to be your fake boyfriend."

"You don't have to be my fake boyfriend, just my fake, totally finds me irresistible, yet very replaceable date. I just need this guy to see how desirable I am in context, Danny, so he won't take me for granted. He's gotta grab me now or lose me forever, you know?" Mindy accompanied her pleas with enough hand gestures to conduct an orchestra, and if it wasn't so annoying, Danny might have found it admirable, being of the tendency himself. 

"If the guy ain't grabbed you yet, what makes you think he wants to? And aren't you sick of the art snob type, after that Jason guy?" 

"Some guys take longer to make a move, but I can feel it in my bones. He just needs to see the window is closing. And he's not an art snob, he's an actual artist, so he's a little flighty. I just need to ground him." Mindy smiled, feeling like her plot was closer to hatching. When she had a plan to get what she wanted, well, it would take a lot to shake her from her path, a lot more than one Danny Castellano could come up with. "Come ooooon, just go with me. You might actually enjoy it! He's a sculptor, like the stuff in that museum. The Loovre or whatever."

Danny's brows rose with interest. "Really? He carves statues, or clay or whatnot?"

"I don't know, I think so. He makes expensive stuff for rich people to put in their living rooms and estates and I'm not an expert, you know. It's fancy schmancy though. There's probably gonna be some hot society babes for you to hit on, after I get rid of you, of course. You'll be even more attractive to them if you're taken." She bit her tongue, hoping she didn't give him any ideas when that last bit slipped out. 

"Pass." Danny closed his desk drawer with a resounding thud and Mindy was pretty sure he didn't even have a reason for it to be open, he just wanted to accent his curt response. 

"Fine. I guess I have no choice, then. I'll just have to ask Peter." She stood and crossed her arms, huffing in frustration. "He's gonna drink a lot and get handsy, but I guess that's what the job calls for. I'm just gonna have to deal with him pawing at me all night long, panting in my ear..."

"Stop, stop, alright, fine. I'll go."

Mindy hid her grin behind her hand. "Okay, bring something nice to change into tomorrow. It's just a few blocks so we can walk there right after work. Thank you, Danny!" She gave him a quick hug before fleeing. 

\--

A few blocks turned out to be closer to ten, and Mindy had her four inch heels in Danny's hand before they'd even gone one. She felt a blister coming on, and she just had to save her feet for mingling purposes, so couldn't he just hold them while she put on the spare flats that were in her purse? 

He didn't bother asking why she wore the ridiculous shoes, because he had that one block to see what amazing things it did for her legs. And elsewhere. 

But he did ask her where the hell she met this guy, this loser who invited her "and a date" to his gallery opening. 

"Duh, where do all good romantic comedies start, the meet cute! I was getting coffee, and the girl at Starbucks misheard my name and wrote Misty, but she had terrible handwriting and so the other girl thought it said Mark, so he got my iced vanilla soy chai latte, and then they called his name again and by then I was so mad from waiting I went back up to yell and, well, it was kismet!" 

"So his name is Mark?"

"No, that's the funny thing. It's Stephen. Anyway, we talked for like an hour and he was really cute and flirty and he invited me to his gallery showing but if I show up alone he'll think I'm just there to pick him up." Mindy stopped to check her hair in the reflective surface of a store window, her face oddly superimposed onto a blank mannequin baby. She tugged her dress down a little, as it was already scandalously short, but it was also low in the back, and she didn't need to add butt cleavage to what she had going on up front. Which was banging. She saw the way Danny's eyes kind of nearly fell out when she turned up in his office doorway, and he didn't look too terrible either, even though he was probably going to be underdressed in that sweater and leather jacket combo. 

"Aren't you?" Danny asked quizzically. 

"Yes, but he can't know that. Danny, you're a guy, how do you not ever get how these things work? It's a balancing act. You can't be too eager, you can't be too far out of reach. You have to walk that tightrope between Madonna and whore."

"I hope you mean the singer and not the blessed virgin," Danny scolded, crossing himself. 

"Okay," she said brightly, stopping him to slip back on her pumps as they neared their destination. Mindy dragged him through the doors of a building too brightly lit with music far too loud, and he slipped his arm around her waist, partly to fulfill his role and partly just to not lose her. It was as crowded as a club, with people dressed up gaudily, milling around what looked more like the weekly trash pickup than sculptures. 

"What the hell is this stuff?" Danny hissed into her ear as she darted around, trying to locate the object of her desire. "This is art? On what planet?"

"Oh hush, Danny. Not everything has to be the Mona Lisa. This is art," she paused, looking up at a chicken wire and egg carton assembly that appeared vaguely phallic. "'One D Erection' see, it's a commentary on pop culture trends. Or something. Anyway, it costs thirteen thousand dollars!" 

"I'm the only sane person in here," he grumbled, catching Mindy's elbow as she started to zip away. 

"There he is! And all those girls are just hanging on him. Ugh! Danny, come on."

They made their way to the exhibit that the artist was standing beside, again featuring chicken wire, but this time it was woven with police caution tape and streamers, molded into something like a flower. 

"This is summer camp arts and crafts level junk," Danny whispered. 

Mindy elbowed him and spoke overly loudly. "I know, Danny, it IS amazing. So unique!" 

Stephen heard her and turned, smiling. "Misty!" He shouted, laughing. "So glad you could make it!"

"I wouldn't have missed it for a million bucks. Which is probably what this sells for, am I right?" 

"Oh, not even close," Stephen cooed, a million teeth flashing. He extended a hand to Danny, who shook it begrudgingly. "Stephen Thirperson."

"Hey, Steve," Danny replied. "Danny Castellano. I'm Mindy's..."

"Oh, Daniel, you know I don't like labels," Mindy interrupted, taking Danny's arm and hugging herself to his side. "We're just here to enjoy some fabulous art."

"Let me get you guys some drinks." Stephen moved away and Mindy turned, glaring. 

"Hello, did you forget why you're here? Step it up, Castellano."

"Two flutes of some pretty fine champagne, at your service." Stephen handed them each a glass and Danny held his for a minute before setting it on a nearby ledge. His hands free, Danny wrapped one arm low on Mindy's hip, and as she started to talk to Stephen about his techniques, he used the other hand to gently push her hair to one side. 

"So you find most of the materials, just, like, thrown out?" 

"Yes, I find it much more beneficial to my soul to repurpose these things, once an integral part of society, then just cast away like garbage. Most of my stuff is, in fact, from the garbage."

"That explains the smell," Danny murmured, his lips inches from Mindy's ear. "You smell good, though."

A shiver ran down her back. Attempting to pick up where she left off, she started to ask Stephen what inspired him, but she was rattled when she felt Danny kissing the nape of her neck. 

"So that, where, I mean, what made you come up with this neck, I mean, this idea, to reuse things, things from the, uh..." 

Danny had dug his fingers into her hip a little, his other hand tracing patterns on the exposed skin of her shoulder. "I'm sorry, man," he said, in between placing tiny kisses along her neckline. "Art just gets me really worked up, you know? Beautiful things..."

"No, I get it, man, I totally get it." Stephen nodded, his eyes glued to Mindy's. "Beautiful." 

"How am I doin?" Danny whispered into her ear, not waiting for a response before nipping at her earlobe. She shuddered. Danny's hand wandered lower, cupping her rear and squeezing. "Too handsy?" He laughed, low in his throat, his mouth hot against her skin, and it's all Mindy could do to keep her eyes from rolling back in her head. 

He stopped abruptly. "Hey, I think I see my buddy Ike over there." Danny gestured vaguely to his left. "I'll be back on a few. Keep her warm for me, ok man?" He winked and made his way through the crowd. 

Mindy shook her head, feeling a little dizzy. Just what the hell was that? She expected...not that. Just Danny keeping his arm around her, maybe a kiss on the cheek, but that was entirely too much. It was just crazy hot, panty dropping level hot, and she suddenly didn't want to talk about art anymore. 

Stephen was smiling at her and reached to take her hand. "I knew I saw something in you that day in Starbucks. You have amazing passion. I can just tell."

"Uh, what?" She smiled back, head still spinning. 

"I'm saying, I'm into it. You, me, and that stunning little man. I can't leave here for a couple more hours, but if you can wait, I think it will be a beautiful night." Stephen reached for her hands and squeezed them. 

"You mean...all of us? You and me...and Danny?" Mindy stared at him in shock, pulling her hands free. "No, no, no..."

"I'm sorry, did I read that wrong? I thought that's what he meant, and you were giving me some heavy duty signals, at the coffee shop and tonight."

"Yeah, I liked you, is all!" Mindy voice is rising, a little panicky. "I didn't want to do THAT!"

"Hey, hey, relax, it's cool. You brought him, I figured, you know, for a little fun. If that's not your thing, okay." He sounded a little sharp and started looking around, presumably for an escape. 

"It's not my thing. None of this is my thing. I'm going to go." Mindy turned, pushing through the gaggle of people, trying to find Danny. She finally spotted him at the bar, sipping from a tumbler of something decidedly not champagne. 

"Hey, it's an open bar," he said as she came up.

"I don't care, let's go." She grabbed his arm and yanked, so Danny tipped the last of his glass back and followed as she stormed out. 

"What happened? Did you successfully snag your target?" He asked, amused, once they were out of the noisy gallery. 

Mindy didn't answer, stopping to switch back to her flats, glaring the whole time. 

"What? I left you two alone, like I thought you'd want. He didn't take the bait?"

She turned, poking at his chest with her shoes. "Oh, he took it alright. You did a great job, Danny, just great. Thank you SO much."

"You're welcome? Why are you mad?"

"Because he thought I wanted US to go home with him. You did such a good job seducing me that you seduced him as well!" Mindy spun on her heel and started walking briskly away. 

"Hey, hey, wait." He caught up, grasping her arm. "I did what you wanted, okay? I can't help if he misunderstood. It really wasn't a very good plan to start with, anyway."

"It was a great plan!" Mindy hissed, pulling him into a little alcove so she could shout at him properly. "You just went waaaay over the line, mister. What the hell was all that?" 

"You didn't give me very clear instructions, and you told me to step it up, so, I stepped it up." He gave her a crooked smirk, and Mindy wanted to slap it right off his face, or do something with his face, because he was really too close and the alcove was much smaller than she realized and maybe she couldn't breathe. 

"What was I supposed to do with you doing, doing that, that..." She reached her arms up and pulled his face closer, breathing in the heady scent of his skin as she mimicked his actions, running her mouth along his neck. Danny made a little noise as she licked the underside of his jaw and he grabbed at her hips. 

"Mindy..." He groaned as she pressed herself against him and slid her tongue across the hollow behind his ear. 

"How do you like it when I do that, Danny? Am I playing fair?" She moved her lips across his throat, sucking at his Adam's apple as he swallowed, gulping for air. 

Her head nearly banged into the wall behind her as he tugged at her hair, but before she could protest, his lips were on hers, kissing her hard, and she moaned into his mouth. 

Mindy dug her nails into his hair, clutching at him as they kissed, and it wasn't until they both needed to come up for air that her brain started working again. This was Danny, the guy who scowled when she took manicure breaks (the amount of hand washing you have to do as a doctor plays havoc with your nails!), the same guy who criticized every date she went on, who put his hand on the small of her back when they crossed the street, who rode the extra stop on the subway with her when it was late and made sure she got home safe...

Oh. 

Oh, dear. 

She might kind of love him, a little. 

She looked into his eyes, and in the dim light she could see the shock in them, and something else, something she imagined was a little like what he saw in hers. 

And then she kissed him again.


End file.
